1000 Gallon Build- Here we go- Lots of Pictures

Rebar goes in next and then the slab is ready. We depressed the area where the tank will sit to control any potential leaks and the concrete in that area is significantly reinforced to handle all the extra weight of the tank and the water.

The fish room is also depressed. This area will be framed in to create the fish room.



These are the pipes coming out of one location in the fish room. All pressure tested and leak proof.



Ignore the funky jog in the floor- that will be a straight line. We were going to extend one part of the fish room out more due to a window in the way but decided to just make the room longer and have it only be 3 feet deep.





After the slab is poured- the kitchen is on the other side of the tank.



Close up of where the fish tank will sit:




And we have slab!!

 
Here are some photos of the initial framing. I have to tell you that when this process of framing started last July, I had no idea that some very talented individuals could take some raw lumber, some plans and create a house from scratch. Ive seen homes framed before but the way they planned everything out so that all the pipes and walls and everything came out exactly as drawn is mind blowing.

What you see below is the view from the bar to the kitchen. as if you are standing in front of the fish tank. This way, anyone standing in the kitchen has an unobstructed view of the tank.





More walls:




This is my favorite view. This is essentially the view that someone sees when they first walk into the house. If you look to the left, you will see the depression where the fish tank sits. This is what cemented my decision to make the tank 48 inches deep. I want people to essentially see a 4 foot wall of water as they walk into the house.




Here is the entrance to the house. Double doors of wrought iron and glass.




A bit more progress being done on the framing. This was a few months back.




and here is the most recent photo of the great room. The view that you are seeing is from the kitchen. The fish tank will be in the depression in the slab and we will have 2 curved arches that take you into the bar which is on the other side of the tank.

So the bar area is connected to the family room but separate. The family room has 23 foot ceilings and the bar has essentially 14 foot ceilings. The tank as I mentioned will sit in the depression but the finished height of the tank will be 36 inches. The steel stand will be surrounded by custom built cabinetry that will complement the kitchen. The tank itself will go 48 inches high and then we have another 30 or so inches of cabinetry on top with access panels. Essentially you have a 10 foot wall of tank in front of you separating the family room from the bar area.

 
Here is my bar. The center column is 12 feet high with each section on the side going down by about 12 inches. As I stand behind the bar serving drinks, I will be having a great view of my tank and can also see through to the other side in case my wife in the kitchen calls.





Thats it for now. I will try to go to the house later today and get some updated photos. I spent the afternoon today designing the wine cellar.
 
Thank you everyone. No photos tonight. Didnt have a chance to go to the house. My friend surprised me with floor seats to the Suns game. Was a blast. The house is in Arizona. We have a home in California but primary residence is arizona. I'll try to swing by the house to get updated pics. Appreciate you all tagging along.
 
So originally we had a shorter fish room in the garage. The contractors had built it out 3 feet and then it had a jog to 4 feet. As they poured the concrete and built out the framing of the garage itself, Im starting at this depression in the garage and wondering why such a weird shape?

I spoke with the contractor and we changed it to a 3 foot depth total and extended the room by about another 7 feet. So when this "fish room" is built, its not a full room per say but an extension on the back of the garage. 3 full set of doors and fully insulated room means that we have no issues with climate control in the hot arizona sun.

In the picture below, the depression in the garage floor is going to extend another 6 feet to accommodate the filtration room. Ill be by the house later today and I believe the framing is complete for the room. Ill grab some updated photos.

 
Here is the schematic of the fish room with the different components. Ignore the drawing and imagine that instead of a 13'7" long room, it will be roughly 20 feet long and roughly 3 feet deep.

We have a wet dry, chiller, canister filters, protein skimmers- all the good stuff planned. I also met with the electrician and we are going to have plenty of power in the area so as not to run out and short anything.

The nice thing about this is that all the noise and smell of the filtration room is far away from the actual tank and the living areas. Makes it easy to service- I don't need to let anyone in the house when we are out of town and it makes it easy to service in the sense that we aren't beating up the furniture or flooring around the tank.

 
Here is the cabinetry around the tank. We have upper and lower cabinets. Base cabinet is roughly 36 inches from the finished floor. 48 inches of tank and then another 36 inches of cabinetry which is going to fill in the wall that separates the family room from the bar.





 
Looks great so far! Can't wait to see this thing when it's done. If I might make a small suggestion... make absolutely sure you're going to be ok with a 3' deep fish room. That is really not a lot of room and you may run out of space pretty quick. If you do end up going with it, make sure your leave lots of room around each piece of equipment in there for servicing and replacement. Its surprising how much room you end up needing.
 
daplatapus said:
Looks great so far! Can't wait to see this thing when it's done. If I might make a small suggestion... make absolutely sure you're going to be ok with a 3' deep fish room. That is really not a lot of room and you may run out of space pretty quick. If you do end up going with it, make sure your leave lots of room around each piece of equipment in there for servicing and replacement. Its surprising how much room you end up needing.
Click to expand...


I totally agree with this. If there is one part of the whole build that Im not happy with is the fish room. This whole project evolved and came to fruition after the plans were all done. We originally had a 2 way fireplace between the bar and the family room. My daughter said- why not put a fish tank there- Great idea honey!

My wife bought in but since the plans were done and approved with home owners and city, we had to modify within the existing skeleton. This was the reason for putting the fish room in the office originally as referenced by my first picture. Then after we realized that wouldn't work, we looked at other options. We thought about building a shed outside- but climate control and setbacks from the neighbors prevented that. Our community is very strict in what you can and can't do and building and extending the entire home was just not an option.

Finally we decided on the garage. I didnt want to lose an entire bay for parking so the decision was made to put the fish room at the back of the garage only 3 feet deep. The room however is over 20 feet long so we should be fine with space as all the components that will go in will fit easily. The wet dry is going to be made long and deep so as to fit easily.

Now to prevent the claustrophobic feel, there are 3 sets of double doors on the front of the room. Essentially if you consider 5.5 feet of doors,x3 thats 16.5 feet of doorway which means that when everything is opened up completely, you have plenty of access to all the equipment.

We got it to work but like I said, far from ideal and if I was to do it all again (which Im not going to!) I would designate a fish room close by, but accessible from the outside.
 
Why the wet/dry? They were dropped many years ago as they are major nitrate factories.

Dave.M
 
dave.m said:
Why the wet/dry? They were dropped many years ago as they are major nitrate factories.
Click to expand...

I agree. The cleanup and maintenance is much more than so many other options out there, for this size setup.

What else have you looked at?
 
Wow....Well I guess if you're going to be a bear.. be a Grizzly! BIG TIME congratulations on this build! Including the house! Can only imagine what the audio-video room looks like!
 
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